Key words:

paradigmatic, syntagmatic, semantic relation, lexical relation, synonym, contrast, antonym, complementary, contrary, converse, hyponym, hyperonym, meronym, holonym, dictionary approach, thesaurus approach, semantic field, lexical blocking

Overview

This chapter examines particular semantic relations among words. They are called semantic relations because they are relations between senses. Some cases of semantic relation can also be lexical relations in which it is not just the meanings that are related, but also other aspects of the lexemes, like morphological form or collocational patterns. After looking at the details of synonymy, hyponymy, antonymy, and other relations, we evaluate two approaches to the representation of semantic relations in the mental lexicon. In the first approach, the lexicon is theorized to be like a dictionary, which records senses but not necessarily relations among them. The second views the lexicon like a thesaurus, in which relations, but not meanings, are represented.